BlackBerry Storm

The BlackBerry Storm is a touchscreen smartphone developed by Research In Motion (RIM).

Introduction

It is part of the BlackBerry 9500 series of phones. It is RIM's first touchscreen device and the first device without a physical keyboard. It features a touchscreen which reacts physically like a button via SurePress, a Research In Motion patented technology of providing haptic feedback. It will be available through Vodafone in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and India; Verizon Wireless in the United States; and Telus and Bell in Canada.

The BlackBerry Storm is a world-phone, featuring CDMA with EV-DO Rev. A data, UMTS with HSDPA, and quad-band GSM with EDGE data access speed. However, the BlackBerry Storm only has European, Oceania, Asia and Brazil UMTS and HSDPA frequency bands. Therefore if the BlackBerry Storm is used with GSM wireless carriers in North America, the BlackBerry Storm will only be able to access wireless internet at EDGE data speed maximum. This is because GSM carriers in North America, namely AT&T, T-Mobile, Rogers and Fido do not operate on the same frequency bands for 3G as the rest of the world. If BlackBerry Storm is used in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania or Brazil, HSDPA wireless data speed can be achieved, provided that the local GSM networks support it. The phone will use the primary network technology of its intended carrier (Verizon) when traveling domestically in the US, and rely upon the GSM/UMTS/HSDPA networks of Vodafone mainly when traveling abroad. There are currently no unlocked and unbranded versions available for the GSM Blackberry Storm however unlocking the phone will allow it to be used with any GSM service provider.

It is intended to be a direct competitor to Apple iPhone 3G, the T-Mobile G1 by HTC and the HTC Touch family.

Hardware

• Touchscreen: The Storm uses a "SurePress" glass capacitive touchscreen which provides haptic feedback - clicks physically depress the screen into the phone. The screen's settings can be adjusted so that double tapping can be employed as an alternate method to select and navigate the phone.

• Display: 3.25 in (8.3 cm) TFT-LCD flat touch-sensitive scratch-resistant screen with 360 X 480 pixel resolution and able to display 65,536 colors. The touchscreen eliminates the need for use of a stylus as it uses a. The touchscreen also provides haptic feedback when it is used.

• CPU: The Storm utilizes the MSM7600 from Qualcomm a dual core CPU with ARM11 400 Mhz and ARM9 274 Mhz.

• Battery: The Storm features a user-replaceable, rechargeable DX-1 Li-ion battery stated to be capable of providing up to 5.5 hours of GSM talk time, 6 hours of CDMA talk time, or 360 hours of standby.

• Text Input: The Storm implements a virtual keyboard on its touchscreen. Using its accelerometer allows the user to switch between a virtual SureType keyboard when held in portrait mode, and in a full QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode. The device has an automatic spell check correction, and predictive text.

• Camera: The device features a built-in 3.2 megapixel camera located on back which features a flash, autofocus, and has video recording capabilities with a maximum resolution of 480 x 352 pixels.

• Memory: The device features 1GB of onboard memory and an expandable memory slot support for a microSD card of up to an additional 16GB. Verizon Wireless includes a preinstalled 8GB microSD card onboard.

Critical reception

The Storm was met with generally mixed reviews, some focusing on serious usability problems in particular. Many gadget reviewers, including Bonnie Cha of CNET, Joshua Topolsky of Engadget and Sascha Segan from PC Magazine noted the Storm's much-improved web browser and impressive call quality, while also deeming the SurePress touchscreen difficult to learn and a hindrance to fast typing. Several reviews also noted that the web browser was still unable to handle complex webpages correctly, saying that the iPhone's MobileSafari is still a better mobile browser. A number of reviewers also ran into multiple software glitches during their testing, such as lockups, sluggish performance and refusal to switch orientation. The lack of Wi-Fi support also irked a few reviewers, but as noted by Jeff Rauschert of MLive, Verizon's wireless network somewhat makes up for this. David Haskin of the Reseller News noted that BlackBerry's major business features, such as enterprise e-mail integration and Microsoft Office document editing capabilities were on par with BlackBerry's previous offerings, noting that these features would likely make the Storm more popular with the business crowd. Also noted by a number of reviewers was the fact that a number if not most of the problems (lag, accelerometer accuracy, etc.) could potentially be fixed by future software updates.

Also the lack of a frontal camera for videoconferencing has been criticized.

Software Update

Ongoing firmware updates have been released since 5 December 2008 that addressed most of these issues; updates can be downloaded online or OTA and can be installed by the user. The most current (official) software to date is:

BlackBerry Storm 9530	Verizon Wireless	4.7.0.109	4.7.0.75	4.0.0.136
BlackBerry Storm 9530	Telus Mobility	4.7.0.109	4.7.0.76	4.0.0.96
BlackBerry Storm 9530	Bell Mobility	4.7.0.109	4.7.0.76	4.0.0.96
BlackBerry Storm 9500	Vodafone	4.7.0.106	4.7.0.106	4.0.0.133

As of March 10, 2009, the latest unofficial software for the Blackberry Storm (both 9500 and 9530 variants) is 4.7.0.114.

SIM Lock

The Blackberry Storm by default is SIM locked, and can be subsequently unlocked on both the Vodafone & Verizon Wireless Storm editions to use on any GSM network if the code is obtained from the respective provider. The Verizon Wireless Blackberry Storm is not fully compatible with AT&T Mobility's 3G UMTS/HSDPA network as it uses different radio signals, but will still work over the slower EDGE network.